


Safe Haven

by jaimistoryteller



Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Creature Jaskier | Dandelion, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fae & Fairies, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Monsters, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Timeline What Timeline, Touch-Starved
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:20:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26972053
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaimistoryteller/pseuds/jaimistoryteller
Summary: After the mountain, Yen has a few realizations following her conversation with Jaskier at the inn. Perhaps she needs to rethink Familiars and what she knows.
Relationships: Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon & Jaskier | Dandelion, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion, Jaskier | Dandelion & Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Comments: 7
Kudos: 56





	1. Planning

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ArthurtheGatekeeper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArthurtheGatekeeper/gifts).
  * Inspired by [The shapes of us](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25285666) by [ArthurtheGatekeeper](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArthurtheGatekeeper/pseuds/ArthurtheGatekeeper). 



> Lots of thanks to ArthurtheGatekeeper for our conversation on the way Familiars work in their world, it was definitely enjoyable, and spawned several ideas. Some of which are playing out here. I will be trying to play within the world and frame work as set up for the Shapeshifter AU & the two stories thus far posted, long with trying to make sure any new stories fit as they can within the world while understanding that might not happen. For any host of reasons. 
> 
> The tags for this will change, but not quite everything is laid out yet, and some things keep shifting around in my head, so I won't tag them until I know they will be within the tale. 
> 
> All comments are wonderfully golden and kudoes are just as awesome.

Yennifer's POV

“Yennifer?” she’d deny it to her dying day that she felt compelled to stop and hear what he has to say, instead she plays it off as grabbing another drink. “I would have liked to be friends.”

Those words burn. 

There is nothing else to say as she leaves, downing the drink before leaving the bar, and opening a portal. Whether he intended to or not, Jaskier created a disaster in her beliefs. Honestly, there are only a few ways to find out. The easiest and most direct would be to bond a familiar and ask. Only every familiar she’s ever met besides Jaskier has been mindless. No better than a pet dog or bird. 

Unless… 

She frowns, stepping through to the small hidden island home she enjoys keeping under the wards. To date no one has discovered it, at least, nothing has ever come near the wards that she set up. Sometimes she finds it lonely, after all, she thrives on attention, but she also needs silence and peace from time to time to do her work. 

What if the reason they are mindless is the mages who control them are causing it? What if the reason they don’t have children is their will has been removed or they don’t want to risk their little ones being forced into captivity? Could they be refusing to have children for that very reason, and thus only have them when forced to? 

She closes the portal, sending a burst of chaos through her wards for an extra bit of strength, a ritual she does every time she visits here. It is stored in the stones that surround her entryway to the island, a little cove that rarely gets high tide within it, but is completely hidden from view. 

Carefully she makes her way up the carved out steps to the small lighthouse overlooking the ocean. She climbs to the top, staring out at the ocean for a few minutes as she considers what to do. 

Unbonded familiars aren’t easily available or found. That’s why Jaskier seemed so rare. Only he wasn’t unbonded. He chose who to bond himself. What if…

That has potential. A great deal of potential actually. She knows several mages — sorcerers, sorceress, a few druids, hedgemages — who have had familiars. There needs to be at least one who would be willing to bond with her. One who would choose her if given a choice. 

Perhaps the first step would be trying to communicate with them. As they are now. 

Actually, she needs to go to her study here and make out a detailed list of everything she knows, wants to know, and might be wrong about. Probably should make a list for which mages would be good to check and see if she can win their familiar away. Give them a choice. 

That’s rather important to her. Having that choice. She didn’t like her choices being taken from her, she doesn’t want to see anyone else’s taken. It’s the entire reason she didn’t try pressing harder when dealing with Jaskier. She knew she could take his choice now that he wasn’t bonded. 

She smiles slowly, a plan forming.


	2. Picking a Familiar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yen picks who she'd like as a familiar. And who to get it from.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Life has been chaotic. Completely and utterly chaotic. Not in fun ways. Murphy has struck, way too much, but hey, I have started a $1 a month Patreon with short stories, some original and some fandom, connected to verses posted on AO3. Eventually I will post the fandom ones here as well, it's there for a first see thing. To find out what all is going on, you can find it here on my tumblr [Jaimi's Updates](https://jaimistoryteller.tumblr.com/post/630932325325209600/update)

Yennefer’s POV

It takes several weeks for her to prepare for the first step in her plan: finding a familiar to bond with. 

She had visited every single mage she’s known with a familiar. While visiting with each, she gets a feel for their chaos, both those who still have their familiars and those who do not. For each she comes up with a reason to visit, mostly related to their libraries, as she’s known for visiting those who might have something she wishes to read or exchange, but some for other reasons. 

During her second to last planned visit, she learns of Jaskier’s lute being delivered to Oxenfurt without the bard. That night she spends time scrying, seeing if she can find the familiar. 

He’s nowhere to be found. She can’t even find his remains. Does that mean he has faded as some familiars are wont to do? Hopefully not, he’s one of the most interesting people she’s ever met. That he resisted her, when he shouldn’t have been able to, refused to be nothing but a plaything, a mindless puppet bound to her magic, made him worth knowing. 

“I will find you,” she mutters as she stops scrying. 

First she will find a familiar for herself, to see if they can have minds like his. Then, she will find him, if for nothing more than because she owes him for destroying his bond. 

The rest of the evening is spent preparing for her last planned visit. She holds a grudge against the worthless self-important limp prick, otherwise known as Irion Stregobor, for what happened with Istredd.

The following morning, she portals first to an inn, letting the chaos disburse from the area around it, making her portal untraceable, before she creates another, this time taking her to where she’s agreed to meet Stregobor at. 

Officially they are exchanging information on books the other wants. She isn’t about to inform him that she’s already got a copy of his, acquired it last year after dealing with a few issues for a rather powerful family. He couldn’t have done the same, however, as she has the only remaining copy of her book. Not that she is letting him have a complete copy, instead she is giving him one she designed for just this purpose: that it also spreads misinformation is a bonus. 

She arrives at their meeting spot, selecting a table and sitting down. 

A waitress with bright eyes and easy smile comes bouncing up, asking, "Good afternoon, ma'am, could I start you out with something to drink?"

“Your best wine,” she replies, allowing her senses to flare out a bit, feeling for the magic of that worthless shit stain. 

“Right away,” the waitress agrees. 

Her wine is being set down in front of her when the first tendrils of dirty chaos flows over her senses. She draws all of her emotions in, hiding them behind a carefully crafted mask, and within a pool of energy that cackles like her trademark flames. 

“Yennefer,” the fool greets her as he approaches, a beautiful golden eagle seated on his shoulder. 

“Stregobor.” 

He settles across from her, the eagle doesn’t even look around, despite the fact that predators always check their surroundings. That would have told her they’re a familiar even if she hadn’t already known. Out of his robe he pulls a small book, setting it down the table directly before him. 

“Did you bring it?” his voice is oily and grates her nerves. 

Smirking, she replies, “I did,” but doesn’t bother to pull it out yet. Instead she takes another sip of her wine as she meets the eagle’s eyes. 

A glimmer of interest lays behind the deadness of magic. ‘ _Beautiful song._ ’

‘ _Hello?’_ she connects with the soft tendrils brushing against her chaos that feels like pure energy. It lacks the sickly feeling she gets from the pissant illusionist. 

‘ _You...?_ ’ the eagle doesn’t even twitch, not even the smallest bit. If not for the fact their chest is moving, she’d wonder if they’re real or not. 

The amount of shock that echoes through the link throws her off, though she refuses to let it show externally, pulling the book out and setting it down. 

Stregobor’s eyes widen the slightest bit. A manic sort of glee she recognizes as satisfaction for discovering a sought after item. “After so many years, why are you now willing to make the exchange?”

She motions to his part of the exchange, “One of the other books for my current project references that one repeatedly.” 

He nods, ignoring the waitress when she comes over to see if he needs anything and bringing the bottle to refill the wine. 

“Leave it,” she tells the waitress without looking over.

“Really? That’s the only reason you are willing to do the exchange now?” The worthless illusionist hums, rubbing a hand across his chin. “I’ve heard that you have been visiting a great many mages, all of which have or have had, a familiar.”

Chuckling, she replies, “Not all of them, though many have been connected to familiars in some form. I have my reasons.” 

He leans forward, voice oily and slick, a weaker mage would have fallen for his chaos. “Why don’t you tell me about it Yennefer.”

She plants her elbow on the table, resting her chin on her knuckles and using her other hand to lift her wine, as she brings it to her lips, she smirks and drawls, “No.” 

The baffled expression that flickers across his face before his mask comes back into place is amusing. He doesn’t stick around too much past that, frustrated by his lack of control over her. 

He’s definitely going to be the one. 

As he leaves, she makes sure to connect with the familiar thoroughly, able to trace the being no matter where the eagle goes. That means she’ll be able to find him as well, through his link to the eagle. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading, kudoes and wonderful comments


End file.
